


Lesson Number One

by Broken_Clover



Category: BlazBlue
Genre: Attempts at canon compliance, Autistic Bang Shishigami, Autistic Character, Fan theories, Gen, How Do I Tag, Origin Story, Pre-Canon, Small Bang being cute, Why does Tenjo not have a tag yet, general fluffiness
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-25
Updated: 2018-10-25
Packaged: 2019-08-07 05:48:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,559
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16402469
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Broken_Clover/pseuds/Broken_Clover
Summary: Lord Tenjo believes that true heroism can come from anywhere. Or, the story of how Bang became Tenjo's student.





	Lesson Number One

**Author's Note:**

> I have no idea what I'm doing~!
> 
> Ok but seriously I wish we knew more about how Bang got involved with Tenjo. We've seen kinda how Kagura did when he and Tenjo were children, but since Bang wasn't seen or mentioned then, I presumed that he was younger than the two of them, despite looking about Kagura's age-ish. 
> 
> That and I just wanted little happy flappy Bang. This is partially self-indulgence and I can admit that.

For Tenjo, some days were easier to bear than others. Leadership was never an easy job, especially with the forever-unsteady political climate. So many people to watch over, so many factors to consider, with a disaster waiting at every turn should she not consider every possible factor first- sometimes even if she did.

Some part of her, which had taken root as a child, had the thought of running away. Finding a new life, if that was even possible. Yet she knew that she couldn’t abandon her people. So many innocents were counting on her to be kind and just, what would happen if she were to abandon them all for the sake of her own selfishness? It was too cruel a prospect.

Still, some days were difficult. When she felt those traitorous thoughts rise, she would politely excuse herself as soon as possible and go for a walk through one of the cities. Even with the conspicuous guard that followed her everywhere, she almost felt relaxed. She could see the people in their daily lives, the ones that she was responsible in preserving the well-being for. Each one of them had their own unique experience, and seeing it all so up close reminded her just what she was doing it all for.

After a long, difficult meeting that was only a few shouts and curse words away from a declaration of war, Tenjo found herself wandering through the quiet streets of Wadatsumi’s outskirts. There was a fair bit of chatter and bustle, but it was a far cry from the loud clambering racket of the meeting rooms and the building surrounding them. In comparison, it was practically tranquil.

“Everything alright, milord?” One of the men behind her asked.

“Oh, yes, I’m fine.” She sorely regretted not bringing Kagura along with her. His manners could leave something to be desired, but he was far livelier than the rest of the guard, who only seemed interested in discussing business.

This section of Wadatsumi was far prettier than she’d expected. So verdant and green. The people seemed cheerful as they bustled about, in the midst of some task or another. Hardly anyone stopped, other than to give her a polite bow or a smile.

Tenjo noticed a little boy perched on a bench nearby. He appeared alone, with the other pedestrians barely paying him any mind. From the looks of things, he hardly seemed to care. Instead, he was staring out with a calm expression, little legs kicking under the seat.

“That boy, is he alright?” It felt odd that a child would be alone in such a crowded place. 

As if on cue, she watched him hop of of the bench. While she hoped that it meant his parents or a guardian had returned to pick him up, he merely continued to stand in place, bouncing restlessly. His hands moved up to the large red scarf hanging from his neck, and he began stroking it almost comfortingly. After just standing there, hopping for a bit, he walked around the bench and sat in the grass, still petting his scarf the entire time.

She turned to her aides. “Do any of you know where that boy’s parents are? Is he alright?”

“Milord, I would not bother this one.” One of the aides shook his head. “I’ve heard stories about him. He’s...well, he’s touched.”

“Touched?”

“Always hopping around like that, never sitting still, no focus at all. From what I’ve heard, he barely even talks! He’s going to be too busy living in his own head to ever amount to anything.”

His words struck a chord on her, but she wasn’t entirely sure why. She didn’t like the shameless way that the man was speaking about him, like he wasn’t even there. With how loud he was, it was definitely audible. Yet the boy didn’t seem to care, too distracted as he ceased petting his scarf and began ripping at the grass.

“See? What did I tell you. Touched.”

Tenjo scowled under her mask. She’d made up her mind. Approaching the strange child on the ground, she knelt close enough that he could see her, but not too close to frighten him.

“Hello there, little one! Can you tell me your name?”

The boy didn’t reply, merely continuing to pluck the grass and kick his bare feet. Tenjo could hear one of the men behind her tutting in dismay.

“Little boy? Hello?”

“My Lord, I respectfully advise that you don’t get your hopes up. You’d be lucky if he even notices you.”

“Oh, hush.” She couldn’t stop herself from snapping. Just as quickly, she turned her attention back to the child. He barely seemed to have noticed their little altercation.

Instead of immediately speaking again, Tenjo watched him pluck at the grass. She realized that he seemed far more interested in long strands than short ones, quickly discarding the small strands that he pulled while placing the long ones on top of the end of his scarf for safekeeping.

“Do you like to weave?” She asked.

He offered a little toneless noise, but Tenjo still felt herself smiling. She’d gotten his attention.

“Do you make things with the big grass?”

A nod.

“Can you show me?”

Another nod. He picked up one of the longest strands and began twisting it. Picking up a couple more along the way, he folded and knotted the grass until it took on the form of a little stick-figure doll.

“Oh! That’s very impressive!” Tenjo offered a quiet clap. “What do you do with the doll?”

“Play with ‘em.” He turned the figure over in his hands. “I use ‘em to play heroes with Ka-ge-ma-ru.”

“Is Kagemaru your brother?”

“Mmhm.” The noise was oddly-pitched and drawn out, in a way that she couldn’t quite describe. “He’s got soft fur.”

Soft fur? Was he part-beastkin? Tenjo was finding herself remarkably entertained by this odd little boy.

“How do you play ‘heroes?’”

She couldn’t stop herself from flinching when he suddenly began to move. He was unexpectedly quick, at least more that she had been expecting from his placid, distracted movements before. In the blink of an eye, he’d hopped up to his feet and struck a dramatic pose, wearing a determined (if slightly silly) expression. 

“Should I do that, too?”

“Nu-uh!” He shook his head furiously. “You gotta be the bad guy!”

Tenjo smiled in amusement as he passed her the little grass doll and returned to his dramatic posing. “Look out, bad guy! The hero of Wadatsumi is gonna stop you! Release the civilian and prepare to be brought to justice! Toh!”

It was obvious that he’d rehearsed the line many times, without a single stammer or stutter. Tenjo offered a little clap, handing the doll back to him.

“Curses, hero! It seems I was no match for you!” She didn’t often work with children, but found it remarkably easy to play along. It seemed that he was satisfied with her addition, bursting out into a wide smile. He started hopping in place again, flapping his hands excitedly for a moment before awkwardly forcing himself to stop.

“When I play with Ka-ge-ma-ru we like to wrestle.” The boy started tugging on his scarf again. “But dad says it’s not-good to wrestle adults.”

“Perhaps some other time.” Tenjo nodded.

“Mmm...What’s your name, ma’am?”

She smiled. “Tenjo Amanohokosaka. You can just call me ‘Tenjo’ if that’s easier.”

“Ten-jo.” He repeated, bouncing a little. “Ten-jo. A-ma-no ho-ko sa-ka Ten-jo sa-ma.”

“Yes, that’s very good!” Tenjo nodded. “Very impressive. I don’t imagine most kids your age would be able to do that on the first try!”

“Ten-jo sa-ma. A-ma-no ho-ko sa-ka.”

“Can you tell me yours?”

“Mhm, mhm!” The boy nodded energetically. “Shi-shi-ga-mi Bang!”

Shishigami...the name seemed vaguely familiar. Hadn’t there been some sort of technology report sent in by a Shishigami? Tenjo couldn’t quite remember.

“So, you like playing ‘heroes?’”

“It’s the best, the best!” He struck another pose. “I’m gonna be a real hero when I get big! I’m gonna fight bad guys and save people!”

“The ‘Hero of Wadatsumi,’ right?”

“Mmhm! No bad guys are ever gonna show up then! The city’s gonna be super-safe when I’m watching over it!”

The image of this small child single-handedly taking down monsters and military officials made Tenjo laugh internally, but she had definitely taken a liking to little Bang. Even children could have their cruel sides, but she couldn’t sense a mean bone in his body. And people called him ‘touched?’ He seemed more lively and spirited than most of the people she’d met in her life.

“Ten-jo sa-ma?” When she turned back, she realized that he’d started petting his scarf again, an uncomfortable look on his face. “I can be a hero...can’t I?”

It seemed odd that he was asking her, but perhaps it was something children did. “I think you’ll be a wonderful hero when you grow up.”

Tenjo couldn’t think of the last time she’d someone so happy. Bang was a little blur of motion, bouncing and flapping his hands so hard that she was a little worried that they were going to come flying off of his wrists. She could tell that the noise was attracting stares, but couldn’t care less. She got the feeling that he didn’t get to do this often without immediately being shut down.

“Why wouldn’t you be able to be a hero?”

“I’m not super-good at fighting.” He replied. “I got a whole buncha ideas, though!”

“Hmm…” Tenjo wasn’t sure how much she could get away with, but “would you like to come visit my house, Bang? I know a few things about fighting, and I have some friends who can teach you, too!”

She was barely able to watch him start bouncing again when someone cleared their voice behind her. Tenjo had somehow completely forgotten about the guard that’d been following her.

“Yes?”

“Are you sure that is a wise idea, milord?” She was already frustrated by his tone. “Are you sure you want... _that_ , in your home?”

“Can you clarify?” She asked tersely.

“I merely have concerns in attempting to train something so ill-mannered. And I have questions about the sorts of accommodations it’s going to require. If you’re going to have to simplify things, I wonder if it will ever be prepared for a _real_ fight-”

Alright, that did it. _“Know your place.”_ She snapped, glaring despite the mask in the way. “Henceforth, I consider this child my protege, and you will treat him respectfully. I shall have no trouble reinforcing this rule as necessary if you decide to continue with his behavior. _Do I make myself abundantly clear?”_

The guard went quiet. “...Yes, milord.”

“Good.” Tenjo stood up, gesturing to her little companion. “Come along, Bang. I think Kagura is going to love you!”

As she began walking, the boy obediently followed. Tenjo was worried that he was going to wander off, but he seemed excited by her proposal and plodded beside her with shining eyes.

Admittedly, she was a tad nervous. Of course she had trained Kagura before, but that felt like a special case. He was a Mutsuki, surrounded by warriors and politics from birth. Right now, it felt like she was plucking a child off of the street- well, that was _exactly_ what had happened, when she thought about it. A very eager and excitable one, for sure, but he certainly was of more humble circumstances than Kagura was.

Perhaps training a child wouldn’t even be the difficult part. How much was she going to have to explain? She was the emperor, but how much justification was going to be needed for taking on a protege? He lacked the credentials of a prestigious house or noble bearings, would they deem it a waste of time and demand that she send him back where he came from?

Truthfully, she found herself more concerned about what that would do to Bang than what it would do to her.

Tenjo was pulled from her thoughts by the sight of a road nearing in front of them. As they approached, she felt little fingers curling around her hand and latching on tightly.

“Put them away.” Tenjo spoke over her shoulder, already hearing the swords being unsheathed behind her in response. “Is everything alright, Bang?”

“Su-pos-tah hold hands crossing the street.”

“Is that so?”

“Mhm.” He nodded fiercely. “That’s the rule.”

She smiled, and carefully held onto his hand.

++++++

“Wooooow!”

“Do you like it, Bang?” Tenjo watched the boy run around the entrance of Wadatsumi Castle, hands flapping as he looked at everything that could be looked at.

“The walls are big! The roof is big! The stairs are big! Everything is big!”

“It is, isn’t it?” She laughed, waving away the guards. “Someone send Kagura Mutsuki here as soon as possible, I have a task for him.”

“Yes, milord.”

“Do you like weapons, Bang?” Tenjo asked, as soon as they were alone. “Do you like swords?”

“Swords!” He shouted, bounding back up to the older woman excitedly. “Swords! Swords!”

She nodded. “Swords. There’s an armory upstairs with all kinds of weapons. Would you like to see them?”

“YEAH!!”

The trip up was beneficial for both of them. Tenjo led her little companion up to the third floor, with him actually managing to outpace her in the process. She could feel the nearby seithr starting to ebb and lessen in intensity.

“Ten-jo sa-ma?” Bang watched her in confusion from the top of the stairs.

“I’m alright, Bang, don’t worry.” As she climbed up the last few steps, she put a hand to her mask and carefully pulled it off. The air felt nice on her bare skin.

She caught her new protege staring at her with shining eyes. “Oh! You have a very pretty face.”

“Thank you. That’s very sweet of you, Bang!”

“You shouldn’t wear a mask.” He crossed his arms confidently. “People will think you’re ugly.”

Tenjo laughed. “Good to know. I’ll keep that in mind.” This was one of the reasons she loved children- they were never afraid to be honest. As many faux-pas as they tended to make, most of the time she’d gladly take that over the excessive schmoozing and honeyed words of politicians. “Should we go look at the swords now?”

“Look at swords! Yes, please!”

The armory wasn’t massive, but it still was an impressive sight to anyone who hadn’t seen something like this before. And clearly, Bang hadn’t. Tenjo was a bit happy by the room’s soundproofing, if moreso that it meant that nobody would know what they were doing.

“You’re free to explore and look at the weapons all you want. I’m going to see if I can find your parents’ contact information. I’m sure it’s in the register.”

“Huh?” He immediately turned away from the ornate katana that had been the absolute center of his attention a mere moment ago. “Why?”

“Shouldn’t we let your parents know about this?”

“Hmm...I guess.” Bang spoke as though the idea had never occurred to him.

“Won’t your mommy and daddy be worried if you just vanished?”

He made a little noise as he shrugged, immediately going back to looking at the armory. “Mommy doesn’t care if I ex-pa-lore.”

Tenjo smiled. “She likes it when you go and have adventures?”

“No. Doesn’t care.”

Her smile vanished immediately. “What about your father?”

“They’re bu-sy.” The little boy trilled, wandering to the opposite side of the room. “They’re bu-sy, bu-sy sci-en-cing.”

“Your parents are researchers?” Tenjo asked, concern creeping into her tone.

“Sci-ence, sci-en-cing~”

“What do they study?”

“Sci-ence, sci-ence.”

She tried to think of what to say to get his attention back. “Do you like science, Bang?”

“Nah.” He turned away from the weapons rack he’d been staring at. “I’m no-good at it.”

“What makes you say that?” She asked with a frown.

“Mommy says so! Says I’m not smart at stuff. ‘Cuz I’m re-...a ree-”

“Bang.” Tenjo didn’t want to cut him off, but she definitely didn’t like where this was going. “It’s okay if you’re not good at science, but that doesn’t mean you’re stupid. I don’t know what sorts of things your mother was telling you, but I assure you, they aren’t true.”

“Hmm…” Little fingers tapped out a rhythm on the polished wood. “Can I be a hero, even though I’m stupid?”

“You’re not-” Tenjo cut herself off, trying not to grow exasperated. He was a child, after all. 

Kneeling down in front of him, she took one of his little hands in both of her own. “Here’s your first lesson on being a hero, Bang. Are you listening closely?”

“Mmhm?”

“Lesson number one: As long as you have a warrior’s spirit and a burning heart, you can be a hero.” 

He tilted his head slightly. “What’s a ‘bur-ning heart?’ It sounds hurty.”

“Ah...how can I rephrase it? As long as you have the heart and spirit of a hero, you are a hero.”

“Oh.” He looked no less confused. “Do I?”

“Well, you want to be a hero to help people, don’t you?”

“Mmhm!” Bang nodded emphatically.

“Then I’d say you do. Some people become heroes for money, or for attention. Those things are nice, but the true purpose of a hero is to protect people. Keep them safe.”

“Ok!” He started punching at the air. “I’m gonna be the best hero in Wa-da-tsu-mi!”

“I’m sure you will be.” She reached up to ruffle his hair. “Just as long as you don’t give up.”

“I wanna look at swords more.”

Tenjo blinked at the sudden topic change, but went along with it. “Of course! Let me know if there’s anything you want to see closer, I can take it off the shelf for you.”

Bang immediately went back to bouncing around excitedly and staring at the various weapons. Tenjo followed behind, keeping an eye on him and reaching up to pull down gleaming sais and intricately-carved poleaxes for him to very carefully look over until something new caught his eye.

It was rare that she got to genuinely enjoy herself. Somehow, for the time being, Tenjo found herself able to briefly forget her responsibilities and concerns. Bang’s unbridled optimism made it too difficult to feel glum. Something about it was just infectious, and she smiled along with him.

“Hey, Tenjo!” A familiar voice called. “They said you needed me?”

“Ah, Kagura!” She turned and smiled as her friend entered the armory. “I didn’t know you’d be here so soon!”

“No need to sound so disappointed.” He smirked playfully, running a hand through his spiky hair. “One of your guys caught me just before I was about to leave.”

“I really do appreciate it, I know it was rather sudden…”

“Hey, it’s my job! So what did you…” 

He caught sight of Bang running around the weapons racks, hands swinging freely like broken propellers. With an unreadable expression, Kagura pointed at the boy. “...He’s not yours, is he?”

“That what I was hoping to talk to you about. Bang? Bang?” Tenjo called, taking a few attempts to get his attention. “Can you come here please?”

“O-k Ten-jo sa-ma!” Each syllable was punctuated with a little hop. Bang was so busy staring at his feet, he didn’t notice Kagura until he almost bumped into him.

“Kagura, this is Bang Shishigami. He’s my newest apprentice.”

The swordsman cracked a wry grin as he knelt down, thrusting out a hand. “Captain Mutsuki.”

Bang barely gave him a glance. “Ten-jo sa-ma, I wanna look at swords.”

“Khh-” Kagura made an undignified noise at the cold reception. “Hey Tenjo, what gives?”

She looked sheepish. “I’m sorry. He’s...a bit unorthodox. Very strong spirit, I think he’s got plenty of potential! He just...really likes swords.”

“Hmm…” He tapped his chin, deep in thought. “Hey, kid. So you’re into swords, huh?”

That immediately got Bang’s attention. “Mmhm!”

“I’ve got a really big one, a zweihander. Wanna see it sometime?”

Kagura was taken off-guard by the sudden flurry of bouncing and flapping, but just as quickly smiled in amusement. “Taking that as a yes, then?

“He seems very excited, Kagura.” Tenjo said. 

"I can tell. Nice scarf, kid, you make it yourself?"

"It's my hero scarf!" Bang tried to move to make it flutter behind him. "Lotsa cool heroes have scarves! An' it's soft..." He pushed it up his face and buried his nose in the material. "Smells good."

Tenjo stiffened up. “Oh! Yes, I almost forgot. Bang mentioned having some ideas for developing a fighting style. I thought you’d be the best person to help refine them.”

“Ohhh, a future tactician, eh? I think I like this kid.” Kagura turned his attention back to the boy. “Mind telling me the ideas you got?”

“Yeah!” He shouted. “Nails!”

The two were quit for a moment.

“N...nails?” Kagura couldn’t hide the confusion in his voice, but Bang hardly seemed troubled by it.

“You want to use nails, Bang?” Asked Tenjo. “Not a sword or a bow or anything like that?”

“Nope!” He struck a pose. “Like shu-ri-ken! You’ve got one pointy end so you don’t cut yourself on it by accident!”

Kagura very slowly turned to his friend, who looked only marginally less baffled.

“Well, ah...at least it’s creative?”


End file.
